June 2020 Nature Never Disappoints |
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| My "Nectar Garden" has been badly overgrown for years. Yet such a tangle of plants and weeds provides habitat for numerous insects. |
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Just now, my garden's Matilija Poppies are taking turns bursting into flower. |
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| While admiring one, I noticed a tiny insect perched on a petal. |
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| This was the first time I'd found a baby mantid in my garden. |
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| This tiny baby rocked back and forth and scampered just like a full-sized adult! |
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| In late summer, adult mantids show up to lay their eggs, hunt for food. |
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| Two empty mantid egg pods found in my garden. The pods contain hundereds of baby mantids identical to adults. |
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| If hundreds are born, why aren't more seen in my garden? |
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| The answer is numerous resident spiders as well as insect-eating birds. |
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| Unable to get close, clear photos, I stepped away and left the tiny mantid to continue its hunt for food. |
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| Due to their size, predatory nature, adult mantids are a threat to hummingbirds. |
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| Adult Mantids found in my garden are caught and released at sites rich in insects. |
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| A couple days after finding the first baby mantid, found this fellow floating - seemingly lifeless - in a pet waterbowl on my back patio. But notice it's eye? |
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| I thought it was dead; wanted to photograph it later. However, after returning from my walk, discovered the "drowned" mantid upright and looking at me. |
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| I immediately released it into a warm place in my garden. |
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